The Place from my Dreams
by Invader Pyro
Summary: Cady has always been an Avatar lover, who's biggest wish is to meet her favorite Prince in the world. What will she think of him once her wish comes true? Chapter two finished!
1. Rude Awakenings

Cady's laughter rang out through the entire house. It was Friday evening, and Cady was watching The Southern Air Temple episode of Avatar.

"'Uncle! Tell Commander Zhao what happened.'" Zuko was saying. Iroh's eyes immediately got wide, but he responded promptly.

"'Ah, yes. I will do that. It was extraordinary…'" At this he leaned over to Zuko and whispered behind his hand. "'What? Did we crash or something?'"

"'Yes, right into an, um, Earth Kingdom ship!'" Zuko exclaimed rather lamely.

Cady had always cracked up at this part, and this time was no exception. She continued to watch the episode, laughing at some parts and cheering for Zuko while he battled Zhao in the Agni Kai. When it came to the part where Zuko was about to burn off Zhao's face, she cried, "Crud, Zuko! C'mon! Blow off his face. You don't have to go all soft on him right now! Do that later! Who cares if you remember how much pain _you_ went through in the same situation, kill him already!" (Cady really doesn't like Zhao, as you can tell)Of course, the television wasn't listening to her, and didn't do as she said.

Cady went to bed after this, exhausted. She looked around her red and gold colored room, smiled inwardly, and walked over to her black bed, plopping into it, and sighing contentedly. She propped her head onto a pillow and stared at the huge piece of paper that she had printed out with a picture on Prince Zuko on it. Her heart melted when she looked into his eyes, which, in this picture, were full of pain and misunderstandings. Even though he was just a cartoon character, she couldn't help it.She stared a while longer, sighing dreamily and turning off the lamp above her bed and staring wistfully at the ceiling, thoughts racing through her head. Her breathing finally leveled out and grew steady as she slept.

_ Falling. Far, far down…._

_** CRASH!** _She woke with a start, her eyes wide and unblinking. She surveyed her surroundings silently.

_ This was not her room._

In fact, this wasn't a room at all. It was a raft, with two figures lying at the other end. One was a short and quite round, and seemed to still be sleeping peacefully. The other was relatively thin, and his piercing, golden eyes were staring at her, narrowed in anger and fear. Cady felt her stomach do a somersault, the breath caught in her lungs, and if she could have breathed at the moment, she would have been gasping. She knew where she was, suddenly, but there was no way! This had to be some weird dream! She knew who those two men were. She pinched herself to make sure, and sure enough, she felt it. She raised her head slowly, and gazed at the younger of the two men, both of their golden eyes meeting the other's gaze.

_ That was Prince Zuko. _

Prince Zuko got to his feet silently, and cleared his throat, as if trying to get someone's attention, and sure enough, Iroh bolted up, and pulled his arms up as if to fight something.

"Prince Zuko," he said, "is something the matter?"

Zuko walked over to his Uncle, put his hand between Iroh's ear and his mouth, and began to whisper. Iroh glanced over at me, and began to whisper back, Zuko nodding every couple of seconds and occasionally adding in an opinion or remark of his own. After a couple of minutes of this, Iroh got to his feet, and Zuko straightened out, and the two walked over to Cady, and began to examine her. Zuko looked her straight in her eyes, and Cady stared deep into his, her eyes glazing over, her mouth going dry, and her pulse slowing dramatically.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Explain yourself this instant!" Zuko said angrily. After a moment, Cady didn't answer, and Zuko was growing very impatient. "I see we have an idiot in our presence," he spat. "I'm telling you once, answer me or I'm throwing you overboard!" Iroh quickly ran over, and pushed his nephew out of the way. "Now, Prince Zuko. Don't let your temper get the best of you." He turned to Cady, and gave her a quick smile, before saying, "Now, dear. What is your name?"

Cady thought for a moment on what she should say. She hated her name, but Boots would sound very peculiar to them. She decided that Cady would have to do.

"Cady, sir. I beg your pardon, but I was a bit nervous. I'm sorry I didn't speak up quick enough for your partner." Cady thought that it would be wise not to say nephew, because then they might question her. She looked at Zuko and was happy at the fact that he didn't look quite so angry anymore. She got to her feet and bowed slightly to Iroh, before asking, "Where am I? Is this a dream?"

Iroh chuckled lightly and put a hand on her shoulder. "No, Miss Cady. Right now we're in a sea just south of the Northern Water Tribe, and it can't possibly be a dream. Oh! How rude of me, I forgot to introduce the two of us-"

"Uncle! You can't give our names out! What if she's a spy or bounty hunter?"

"Now, Prince Zuko. She can't be a bounty hunter, because if she were she'd have bound, gagged and taken off to give us to her employeralready, and if she was a spy do you think she would have let us known she was here?" He turned back to Cady and smiled. "Please forgive my nephew. He can be a bit, angst-y, shall we say? As I was saying, my name is Iroh, but I'm more commonly known as Uncle Iroh or just plain Uncle. Feel free to call me either. This," he motioned towards Zuko, "is my nephew, Prince Zuko." Cady nodded weakly and looked up at the sky. "What time is it?"

"Well, I'm not quite sure, but judging by how dark it is right now, it's probably still quite late, or early. We should all get some rest. We need to find a market in the morning, we didn't have any supplies when we got on this raft, and we don't have any now, either, so we have to get something or we'll starve."

Cady nodded, and Zuko walked off stiffly, and positioned himself on the edge of the raft, his back turned to everyone else. He sat there, not even moving to breathe, it seemed. Cady watched him out of the corner of her eye, wondering if he secretly wanted to 'accidentally' roll off the edge of the raft while he slept. She hoped he didn't. She rolled over and rested her hands on her chest, looking out over the dark night sky. She gazed in wonder at the millions of specks that blanketed the darkness: like little glistening bits of hope in a world full of misery. She let her thoughts drift and scatter, and she was just about to fall into a deep sleep when she heard something. She rolled over again, scanning the raft for any intruders, but after a while thought she must have gone crazy; how could anyone 'intrude' a raft that was floating around in the middle of nowhere? _Well, _she thought,_ I managed to do it. _

There it was again! It sounded like mumbling. She looked over at the two other passengers. Iroh seemed at peace, but Zuko was lying on his back, his eyes open and narrowed in pain. She crawled over to him as quietly as she could, and he turned his head to see her sitting next to him, with her eyes white with the reflection of the moon on them.

"Are you alright, Prince Zuko?" She asked. She didn't think she should call him Zuko without any other title before it, because he might think she was disrespecting him. He turned his face back towards the sky and furrowed his brow.

"Nothing. I was just thinking." He said, but his tone told otherwise. He was lying, and Cady knew it. She grinned evilly.

"You're lying, Prince Zuko, and you know it. C'mon, tell me what's bugging you." She said sympathetically. Zuko turned again to her. "Why should I tell you? You don't know anything about me; how would you know if I were lying or not? Go back to sleep."

Cady sighed. She couldn't let him know that she was from another world; he wouldn't believe her in the least. Saying that the reason that she _did _know things about him would only make him angry or confused. He wouldn't understand the concept of a box that showed moving picture, least of all moving pictures of him.

"Listen, Zuko," she said, taking a chance at not addressing him properly, "I know a lot more than you think I do. I know about your father, and what a wretch person he is, and how you got-"

"Don't insult my father, you filth! You know nothing of him!"

"I know enough! He is an evil person, Zuko! You don't have to capture Aang to get back your honor, you know. Honor isn't something that can be taken or given to anyone. It comes naturally."

"How do you know his name?" He asked, his eyes wide with anger. "Are you friends with him?"

"Of course not!" She cried. "I told you that I know a bit more than you'd imagine."

Zuko was infuriated by now. He huffed and some steam blew out his nose, turned his back and said in a stiff voice, "Go back to sleep, peasant. I have no wish to talk with you."

Cady's eyes were on the verge of filling with tears, but she held them back. She got up and walked silently over to the part of the boat that was farthest away from Zuko, and turned her back away from him, too. She sat there, and, looked into the water, and every now and then the water would ripple. Cady let her hair down and dipped the top of her head into the water. It was freezing, but she kept her head in there, scrubbing the hair. She splashed some of the water in her face afterwards. When she finally lifted her head out of the freezing liquid, she felt as though her brain and most of the blood in her head had frozen in the veins. She shook off some of the water and tied her hair back up into its normal, ponytailed self. She laid back down and sighed, closing her eyes and drifted into a deep sleep.


	2. Mysteries and Meditation

Cady was awoken by Prince Zuko lightly tapping her shoulder. She opened her eyes and looked around, but it was still dark outside.

"We're nearing the port. We're buying you some new clothes. You can't go around wearing that," Zuko said.

Cady looked down at her clothes, noticing she was wearing Happy Bunny slippers and pants and a tie dye t-shirt. She stifled a laugh and looked out over the horizon, where the sun was just starting to rise, the ocean glistening from its fire. She looked back over her shoulder and nodded. Zuko looked back at her clothes and groaned.

"You can't wear that to the market, you're going to have to borrow some of my armor."

Cady's eyes glistened happily; she finally was getting to wear REAL armor!

* * *

She finally got to wear REAL armor! How horrible! It was heavy and clinky, and was very hot inside. She was struggling just to find her footing on the level dirt road on which they traveled. She had no idea how Zuko managed to do it, as she glared at him, walking ahead of her, straight as a pin, and his mouth set in a smirk. 

She narrowed her eyes and looked at the clothing shop with determination, struggling not to trip and make a fool of herself. She waddled a bit faster, catching up with Zuko, and folded her arms across her chest, glaring at him with satisfaction, before hurrying off to the shop.

* * *

"Hmm… This is pretty nice!" Cady observed the garment with interest, Zuko scowling behind her. It was a black tunic, with swirls at the bottom, and a red collar, and no sleeves. In her golden knapsack (which she had just bought), there were already a couple of clothing items: some nice puffed pants (which she had always wanted to wear), a pair of boots with red arrows decorating them, and a pair of deep red arm warmers, just like Zuko's, but with a small strap that wrapped around you thumb. She had also asked Zuko for one of his hair ties, because she wanted her hair to look just like his, and he agreed. She bid Zuko a farewell as she walked stiffly into the dressing room to try on her new clothes.

* * *

"This is great!" 

Cady looked down at her new clothes, glad that they fit snuggly, she had also bought a black cloak, which was draped around her shoulders, and which swept about her ankles as she walked. Zuko seemed to like her new wardrobe more than her previous one, and allowed her to try some different foods from around the world. She tried a number of different Earth Kingdom biscuits, some Water Tribe seal jerky (which she wanted only because she knew that Sokka liked it), and some Fire Nation tea and cookies, which afterwards made her very bloated, and when they finally met up with Uncle Iroh and set off for a dining area, she politely declined the privilege, but tagged along anyway, seeing as Zuko didn't want her wandering the market on her own.

She was quite interested in Uncle Iroh's stories of war days, when he was a general, and listening to the stories of Ozai and his childhood times, whereas Zuko just sat in the corner, glaring at his food, and stirring it around with his chopstick blandly. After Iroh was finished with his war tales, I walked over to Zuko and sat next to him, asking him why he didn't like to listen to such great stories.

"I've heard them so many times. I could repeat every story that he's ever told me, word for word. Once you've heard them at least 20 times each, they aren't too great," he replied plainly. I turned my head away from him and looked out at the ocean, the bustling crowds, and sun. She wondered if Zuko would ever catch Aang. She wanted Aang to win the war, but she wanted Zuko to regain his honor, too. Otherwise he would remain this empty shell, at a full loss of any emotion but anger. His soul would disintegrate. She stared and stared, wishing that the bright, fiery sun would answer all of the questions that reeled in her mind.

Zuko stared at her figure, wondering what she was thinking about that made her so quiet and intent. He got to his feet, inspecting her back, before walking in front of her and waving his hand in front of her glazed eyes. She snapped back into reality, realizing that she had just made herself look like an idiot, and bowed her head as she stood up and walked out of the small area that was set off for dining, waiting for the other two to finish their meals and get ready for a bit more exploring before they had to leave.

* * *

Cady gazed off at the retreating shore and the long shadows that the few late shoppers were casting over the ocean, and sat down between Zuko and Iroh, taking a deep breath.

"Prince Zuko, could you teach me how to meditate?"

Zuko looked down at her warily, and nodded stiffly. He instructed her to fold her legs and lie her hands in her lap, palms up and thumbs barely touching.

"Hold on, I'm going to see if we have any candles," Zuko walked over to the bags that Iroh had brought along, filled with hundred of miscellaneous items, and dug through them before finding two candles and holders, which he placed in front of both of us.

"Close your eyes, and take deep breaths. Try and feel the warmth and fire of the candle, and feel that energy inside of you. I am not yet sure which Nation you are from, but your eyes lean towards the Fire Nation, along with your skin, but your hair is a mix of Fire and Earth. Which ever it is, you seem to look more Fire Nation than Earth, so if you can bend this fire we'll know for sure. Try and make the flame grow larger and smaller with each breath you take."

Cady did as she was told, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. She breathed over and over, feeling the candles heat on her face, and feeling it's beauty, along with it's great power. She breathed more slowly, letting her breath even out, but her mind was racing. She had never been good at clearing her head of all thought, and she imagined it would be quite hard, but as she focused more on that small flame, the more she felt her mind go at ease, her head going numb and the feeling of her legs and arms disappear as if they were not even there. She felt herself flying, soaring through that wonderful, lightheaded feeling, when she felt herself jerk out of the trance and wrench her eyes open. She looked around, seeing that it was dark, and wondered how long she had been sitting there, seeing as Zuko and Iroh were already asleep, or so she though. She looked around once more, and back at their figures before agreeing with herself that she should probably get some rest, too.


End file.
